Outfielder Brett Carroll, who was designated for assignment April 14, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Class AAA Syracuse.

The 29-year-old accepted the assignment and will join the Chiefs roster.

Carroll made the Nationals Opening Day roster and was originally expected to see significant playing time in center field, starting against left-handed pitchers. But the late-spring addition of Xavier Nady pushed Carroll out of the mix and he wound up receiving only two at-bats over the season’s first week (also making three appearances as a pinch-runner).

When Rick Ankiel was activated off the disabled list April 14, the Nationals needed to clear a roster spot. Carroll was designated for assignment, leaving him in limbo for 10 days while he cleared waivers and while the Nationals sought trade requests.

Here's an another uh-oh for the Phils:Hunter Pence hurt his shoulder while diving for a ball during Sunday’s game in San Diego and, as a result, was out of the lineup against the Dbacks last night. He’s listed as day-to-day, but there are some rumblings that this could be more severe. He has yet to have a doctor look at it, so it’s hard to say.

NatsLady: Jackson? Wow…he's the next last guy I would go with..I like Jordan Zim..I think he's the best pitcher on the staff and can go deep…then Gio, Stras (concerned after he gets through lineup twice), Jackson and Det

If Jackson is on his game he will save your bullpen. Not only the complete game, but the extra innings he pitched the other day after his bad start. That's what he was hired for, to eat innings, save your bullpen and pitch .500 ball.Gio second choice. JZ third if he is allowed to go 8 innings. Det/Stras a wash.

Kind of an unrealistic question though. I'm trying to visualize how the bullpen got exhausted but the entire rotation has their full 5-days' rest… Maybe the bullpen all pitched in the All-Star Game?Speaking of which, is it possible we could have three SP invited to the All-Star Game? Wouldn't that be something? (And no position players, unless RZ gets really hot.)

An FYI on Sunday's rainout. I confirmed with my ticket rep that rainchecks from that game can be exchanged for tickets to any game this season EXCEPT the following:PHI — May 4, 5, 6BAL — May 18, 19, 20ATL — June 2NYY — June 15,16, 17 ATL July 20, 21PHI July 31, Aug 1, 2NYM Aug 17, 18

I thought the Jackson answer was pretty smart. I also nominate him for pitcher most likely to have thrown the most pitches in a game this year.I could easily see him tipping 120 pithces (well not tipping all 120, but you know what I mean)

I was one of the people who voted for Moore coming up. I guess part of it is that I don't see when his time will actually come. I think he has been considered by most to be a marginal prospect, but he has come on strong for what might be his one best chance.Nady is doing nothing, for sure. We need pop until Morse comes back. I bet Moore would be really happy to come up, even if it isn't his "time."+1/2St.

Kind of an unrealistic question though. I'm trying to visualize how the bullpen got exhausted but the entire rotation has their full 5-days' rest… Maybe the bullpen all pitched in the All-Star Game?I've wondered about that also NatsLady. How is the pen so tired after 15 games? It would be 16 except for Jackson's complete game.

Get Some Players said… Ladson has a poll on bringing up Tyler Moore. I voted yes. Nady not cutting it. April 24, 2012 11:20 AM I still don't understand the rush to get Nady up so quickly. It seems he had no illusions of making the 25 man.Now he would need to be DFA'd to send him back down and there lies the risk.My question about Tyler Moore is where he is as a defensive Left fielder? I don't know that side of his game as an outfielder. I saw him at first base and he reminded me of Adam Dunn – which isn't a good thing.If this was AL ball, it would make more sense. With interleague 3 weeks away, it may make more sense to -try- a move at that time.

The bullpen certainly could be tired because some of them are not relievers by training (Gorzellany, Stammen), some of them are one batter, short/situational guys (Burnett, Lidge), leaving Mattheus (who only pitched around 30 innings last year), Clippard (who the team has said they are trying to conserve) and Rodriguez. I'm just not certain many of them are equipped to get up day after day and throw. Not that there have been a lot of occasions when this was a factor but last week there were days when a couple of guys were in three out of four days.Further reason for Jackson to get his act together, Strasburg and Detwiler to get stretched out to seven innings, at least.

Theo, I don't understand. Isn't that the whole point to bullpen guys, except the "long" guys Stammen and Gorzelanny, to go several days a week if needed, for short outings? I thought that was what they train and get ready for. The guys like Wang or Livo, whose repetoire and regimen aren't really suited to regular short relief work, they don't tend to get those jobs, I think.

Among the management there has been a striking lack of vocal enthusiasm for Tyler Moore over a period now going on three years. That ought to speak clearly to people on this blog. With several more experienced outfielders available (Nady, Matthews, Carroll) I think Moore is a "break glass in case of emergency" option, not a realistic candidate for a call-up to fill a lineup spot on a regular basis. And if they genuinely see him as a future outfielder, they're not going to make him learn the position in spot starts at the major league level. If Morse hasn't returned by August, then there's a chance.

Oh, and if I have to win tomorrow and need 9 from the starter, Gio Gonzales, or else JZnn. I'm confident enough Jackson can go 9, but 50-50 on his being able to win. I like my odds better with Gio, and Znn is just such a bulldog that I am sure he will be a monster in the playoffs–the guy you do NOT want to face.

Sec. 3 — Just because Stammen and Gorzelanny are "long guys" doesn't mean they can get up in the BP and throw/warm up every afternoon. Stammen just became a for-ever reliever last summer. Gorzelanny says he doesn't like relieving, and it may not be just because he doesn't see making big money. I don't know it for a certainty but both of them could still be dependent on having a day of rest, a day of "light toss," a day of letting things out, etc., that is more typical of a starter working on four days between starts. Don't know; just speculating.

For peric and the stats types, here is a method to measure a player's effectiveness at driving in runs in a better way than simply counting them (RBIs). Traditional RBI doesn't factor in the different level of opportunities a guy may have to drive in runs. The proposed stat is called Driven in Over Average (DOA). Chew on it and get back to me…DOAhttp://www.highheatstats.com/2012/04/doa-driven-in-over-average/#more-2588

Theo, I think you may have something there on Gorzy that has resulted in his inconsistency. Seems like he has one bad outing followed by a couple of good ones (he did that in spring training, if you recall). OK, so twice could be a coincidence or he was working on something in ST. But if it happens a third time you might be looking at a pattern.

NatsLady.. Fenway Flamatormium CRACKED me up! BP Arms: Plus the other thing we don't know is who got warmed up in the bullpen and was never put into the game? That could wear down some guys as well. I am all for having the rest. Don't want any arms to fall off this year. We already have one man down (DRUUUUU) and I don't want anyone else to go down.

If you are a Kool-Aid drinker like me and enjoy the statistical post-season daily line machinations on the Nats and the competition, check out the latest from Cool Standings. After last nights losses by Atlanta and Philly, their numbers have the Division crown going to Philly and only slightly behind are the Nats followed closely by Atlanta. This is the best showings all season in these stats for the Nats:http://www.coolstandings.com/baseball_standings.asp?sn=2012&i=1

I second that emotion.MicheleS said… Glad to see Carroll stay within the org. Didn't think there was enough time in Spring Training for him to show what he was capable of. (Splitting time with Tracy/DeRo/lombo, and eventually Nady) April 24, 2012 11:37 AM

Ok, hypothetical. (Since you know I like to stir up trouble). Who are you trading if Morse doesn't come back? And who are you trading for assuming the standings in June are similar to what they are now?Would we deal MPHRod? Mattheus? Stammen? Flores? Detwiler? (I don't know what you could get for Jackson or CMW, probably not much).In other words, if we have to deal pitching (or catching) for a bat, who would you deal?

Gorzelanny says he doesn't like relieving, and it may not be just because he doesn't see making big money.Gorzelanny NEVER SAID THAT! My gawd people! What he said was that he wanted to be used as a regular reliever … he wanted to be brought in for tight game-on-the-line situations. He didn't want to pitch mop-up. Lannan's the guy who basically refused to pitch relief by his performance which is why he is in AAA. When he was brought in the middle of games even with a starter's warm up he got shelled. If anyone was whining about their "role" its Lannan.Given how he was abused in 2007 by Jim Tracy Gorzo is lucky to still be pitching. A lot of his inconsistency has to do with that folks. It took him two years plus to recover from that experience … as I've stated a plethora of times.

Natslady DOA is just another form of bRAA or RAR depending on whether its Fangraphs or Statscorner. Remember bRAA is calculated using Park and defense neutral statistics. It was created to be unbiased and its why its used in calculating the WAR. (Albeit I find the WAR to be far too coarse grained.) I That is not the case with DOA. I'd suggest sticking with Fangraphs for that reason.

Nats Lady said and others also asked I'm trying to visualize how the bullpen got exhausted but the entire rotation has their full 5-days' rest.Really pretty simple. The bullpen pitched eight extra innings in this 10 game homestand:+1 on 4/12+4 on 4/13+2 on 4/15+1 on 4/21

If you bring Moore up, doesn't that mean losing Nady? So if Moore doesn't do it, either, what's Plan C, or should I say Plan D?I don't think the plan is to use Moore as bench player … yet. La Roche doing well precluded his use at first base if he continued to put up power numbers. So, now they are trying left field. Nady is a bench player and I don't think Johnson has given up on him yet. Nor has he given up on Bernadina. If Moore comes up he would likely supplant Lombardozzi who would get optioned to Syracuse. I have a strong hunch that they are waiting for an injury to happen … and given their recent spate of luck its probably a good tact to keep Moore in Syracuse until that happens. Unless he forces their hand … if he has more than 10 homers and a huge ISO at the end of April I believe that might constitute "forcing their hand". He would be telling them that he's ready.

Sec 3, not necessarily an outfielder but you would have to say where you'd put the bat and how you would staff the OF. The hypothetical also assuming that Storen and Wang come back full strength or close to it and that you can't a bubblegum wrapper for Lidge.So you trade from SP, bullpen, catching, or if you want, the infield (and our prospects).You need a trade partner close to the bubble that needs pitching and can spare a bat (not prospects because we are talking this season).I know, shut mah mouf' but I am dubious about Morse's situation. I think they will try to bring him up mid-May for DH duties, and then find (or announce) that he will need surgery.

Really pretty simple. The bullpen pitched eight extra innings in this 10 game homestandTrue, but our starters were outstanding and gobbling up innings. They averaged 6.5 innings per start, including 1 start of 9 innings, 4 of 7 innings, 3 of 6 innings and only 2 of 5 innings. One would hope that the bullpen could handle less than one extra inning per game with that kind of set up. At any rate, now everyone's rested. No excuses.I'm with Peric on Gorzo. He's been a pro about his new role, and has pitched quite well. Lots of folks are ready to DFA him after the one bad outing on Thursday night. That would be a mistake. He's a valuable arm, and a very serviceable spot starter if that time comes.

MLB just posted on twitter that Jason Bay went on the 15 DL with a non displaced rib fracture on the left side. So another team is starting to feel our DL woes. At least we have been able to cover (sort of) the loss of our big bopper.

NatsLaddie, May doesn't look probable for Morse who will be able to resume baseball activities at the end of May because of his 6 week shutdown but taking from Michael's thoughts he is saying "before July" which to me hints at June which would give him some time back in AA to get some hacks in.You also have to figure if he followed Doctors orders (Dr. Andrews) he probably has had some upper body muscle atrophy. It could very easily be mid-June to the end of June before we see Beast Mode again in the Washington lineup.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/04/nl-east-notes-jurrjens-utley-tejada-wright.htmlI think NatsLady called this. Jair Jurrjens optioned to AAA.What a huge blow to Atlanta. Depending on what happens with Tim Hudson and their young pitchers, they can be a team relying on their big 3 in the bullpen and Heyward, Freeman and McCann on offense. That great pitching staff looks more middle of the pack.The comments about Jurrjens on the off-season trade rumors are interesting.Also in the same article they are talking Chase Utley playing 1st base for the Phillies.The Nats can really work on distancing their lead from the pack.

NatsLaddie said… Ghost of Steve M., why are you lecturing me when all I did was respond to NatsLady's hypothetical scenario? Don't you have anything better to do now that you've kept your made-up user name safe from all encroachment?Sorry you don't like my opinion but if you want me to be more succinct, there is less than 1% chance Michael Morse will be up playing for the Washington Nationals before May 20th 2012.

Ghost.. thanks for the Beast timeline. I have been trying to figure out when it would be probable that he would come back. I hope his recovery is complete and he has no setbacks. I wonder if they will do another MRI to ensure that he is completely healed – at least I hope they do one, i would hate for him to lose more time.

They're probably going to make Morse play a significant number of games in left field in AA/AAA before activating him. They just might use the entire 30 days given the "atrophy" someone mentioned and the fact that the injury seems to recur … I wouldn't expect him until around the AS break.

MicheleS, I am hoping 6 weeks is almost overkill to shut him down and thinking they are being more than cautious but again, Michael's own words say "before July".Getting a healthy Michael Morse back to fill the biggest void on the team (left field) is a huge plus for this team.With any luck, Bryce Harper will go on a hot streak and re-ignite the speculation that he is ready. With Werth hot and Ankiel starting to get his stroke, its left field where the biggest need is.

NatsLady, Your pessimism about Morse is based on what? a feeling? Let me just say right here that we aren't going anywhere without beast's bat in the lineup because there are only so many one run games you will win; eventually the pendulum swings in the other direction and I don't believe that LaRoche and Werth will maintain their pace and I am also not completely sold on the top of our order. I know Zim will bounce back and I figure Ramos and Espinosa will have hot power streaks but I hope we don't have to go through the year with Nady/DeRosa/Bernadina/Ankiel in the every day lineup.

I think we all hope for the earliest returen and fear the worst with respect to Morse. But, the season DOES NOT hinge on his return. It could be a much easier road to the playoffs if he were back and productive. If the post season is in reach AND the team learns that Morse will not be back AND the offense continues to struggle AND the team does nothing to replace him, then the season will hang on that failure. But, nothing is that clear. (And it will not be because of team medical staff, cheapness, etc… if it turns out he is unable to play this year. We already know that he has seen the best, tried state of the art treatments, and good old fashioned rest.)

JD, I agree with you on the pendulum swinging. It always does and Bernadina and Ramos are swinging much better bats which has picked up for some of the guys who struggled last week. The ebbs and flows of baseball.Its hard to believe only 2 weeks into the season.

Ghost, My point is that the lineup is challenged even with Morse playing and without him we have big problems and I don't see who we can use as trade bait to resolve. The starting pitching so far has been even better than we had a right to hope for and it's hard to imagine that they can all maintain the same level over the long haul. You have to win your share of one sided games even if just to relieve the pressure from the staff.

JD:Rendon: Has a small fracture in his ankle. Obviously that's going to take significant time toheal.Purke: Throwing at extended spring training. No injury. The Nats are just keeping him down there a little longer to build up his arm in a controlled environment before they send him to a minor-league affiliate (probably Potomac).Goodwin: Strained hamstring. Not considered serious, but he'll be out for a little bit.

JD, over 162 games the cream rises to the top. There are many experts outside of us Nats fans who saw the Nats before the season started as a top team.When we turn to the first week of May, we will have a much better idea of what we are looking at and especially after the Phillies leave town on May 6th.I don't remember what I wrote but I used that May 6th date as the pivotal date for the season with hopes the Nats would be at least 5 games over .500 Obviously now with the fast start I would want to see much more than 5 games over .500 at the end of May 6th.

On the Ryan Zimmerman discussion of the last few days, I hope we never turn back to a discussion that he should have had a MRI on that shoulder. We are all concerned about Morse but Ryan Zimmerman is the guy that keeps it all together.This time I hope it really was "nothing" and Zim will play like there really wasn't anything to worry about.

Re: Zim's shoulder, I thought it a bit incongrous (and disingenuous) that the official Nats line on Zim's shoulder was that there was no structural damager, and they will not be taking an MRI. How do those two statements jibe?

On the Ryan Zimmerman discussion of the last few days, I hope we never turn back to a discussion that he should have had a MRI on that shoulderIf by this you mean you hope that the injury turns out to be nothing so we don't have to second guess how the initial diagnosis was made, I agree with you. If you mean you hope that no one here will again question whether he should have had an MRI, I don't. We have way too many examples of shoulder injuries turning out to be more serious than first imagined for that.

Referred shoulder pain is a condition in which pain is experienced in the shoulder area although it originates a different area of the body, commonly in the neck or spine. Perhaps the most commonly known example of referred pain is the pain experienced in the left arm during a heart attack.Referred pain is common in the human body due to the many nerves, which run from the spinal cord to the entire body and limbs. These nerves pass through or around many different structures, joints and tissues. Referred pain in the shoulder can also be due to structural damage of the shoulder joint, ligaments, or tendons. If this is not the case the most often seen cause of referred shoulder pain is a problem in the cervical spine, chest, or abdomen. Additional causes include infections and complete neurological disorders.Referred shoulder pain or “shooting pain” can be associated with movement pathologies within the shoulder. A thorough evaluation by a medical professional is the best only way to ascertain the pain’s true origin. When considering the source of referred shoulder pain in sports, the cause can be a muscle impingement in the upper back. This is most often associated with activities involving aggressive upper torso movements such as twisting and bending. Several examples of these are baseball, football, tennis, and martial arts.

Sec3, does anything in that lengthy explanation make you any more confident that Zim's injury is nothing to worry about?On another note, even though tickets haven't gone on sale yet, to STHs or the general public, Springsteen an online ticket broker called Ticket Liquidator has tickets on sale ranging from $131 to $868. The tickets supposedly won't be available, however until Sept. 7 or Sept. 10. Interesting.

Mark, Thanks for the quick response re the injuries. Rendon – sounds like out for most of the year which delays his development by a year which is really significant bad news for the Nats. Purke – That's good news. I think he is the next key pitching prospect (I think Rosenbaum is more in the Milone bottom of the rotation category). Goodwin – Started hot; I was hoping for a quick promotion to Potomac but this is not horrible news.

Ghost, I think that many experts evaluated the Nats based on very strong pitching and a passable lineup. I don't think anyone anticipated quite the level of excellence we have witnessed from the rotation on a consistent basis. I think that taking Morse out of the lineup makes it less than passable especially if LaRoche, Werth and Desmond can't sustain a relatively strong start.

I miss Morse's bat along with lots of others but what I really miss is his exuberance for the game. He was always happy, smiling, bouncing around and just loved to play. At least that is how I saw it. I realize Gio has that smile going but Morse played every day and played hard. That is what I miss and I think he really helped Werth through some hard times last year with his enthusiasm.People have speculated Morse will be a trade piece in a year and they very well could be correct but I loved what he did last year and also at that tournament overseas. Just loved his smile.

That article on Wang and the DH was funny! My pessimism on Morse comes from the medical staff not knowing exactly what's wrong with him so they can formulate a plan. Just like when Storen had "elbow inflammation." That can come from several causes and until they knew it was caused by the bone chip(s)–which they knew he had–they couldn't fix it.With Morse, I don't think they have gotten to the exact root of the problem (or if they have, they aren't saying). Without knowing the exact cause, you don't know if rest and a slow program of working back is sufficient or if surgical intervention is needed. My worry is if they keep trying to bring Morse back–no matter how long he has rested–he'll keep reinjuring it until the true cause becomes apparent, and by that time they will have lost many months.

Great, now LiveJournal is giving me a 503. Trying with another service. Glad that you're feeling better, erocks. Agree re. the need for a game, but only baseball will work for me. Will have to be a replay, though, because no way I can stay up with a 10 PM start (heck, I've been known to fall asleep in front of the tv for a 7 PM start). Best I can hope for is a happy morning game results email.

Great, now LiveJournal is giving me a 503. Trying with another service. Glad that you're feeling better, erocks. Agree re. the need for a game, but only baseball will work for me. Will have to be a replay, though, because no way I can stay up with a 10 PM start (heck, I've been known to fall asleep in front of the tv for a 7 PM start). Best I can hope for is a happy morning game results email.

Interesting reading posts today after a layoff of games. While things were exciting,the conversations were all about the pitching, just enough timely hits, lombardozzi, etc. Now that we have had some time to "look down" from the mountain you can just feel everyone waiting for something bad to happen. I guess we have just gotten used to Lucy pulling the ball away at the last second. I am trying to convince myself – just because something bad CAN happen , doesn't mean it WILL. Maybe Zim really is fine, maybe Morse will come back in a timely fashion and be a beast again. Sensing some paranoia from everyone based on a string of losing seasons. I can only imagine how the cubs fans must feel. We really need a game.

Not that Dr. Andrews is infallable, but Morse has had the foremost expert on the subject take a look at it and he recommended rest, and not surgery. Plus, he had the trendy blood spinning treatment that has proven effective on similar type injurries. Plus, he aggrevated the injury in cold weather which – I think most of us are old enough to know is extremely plausible. So worry if you want to, but come July everything is going to be just fine.

OK. My buddy in New York can't catch a break. First Jason Bay (not that he's been very productive) goes on the DL this morning, now Pelfrey goes on the DL, too.I'm still pulling for them over the Fish tonite.

Sec3, does anything in that lengthy explanation make you any more confident that Zim's injury is nothing to worry about?Just the opposite. Now, that was just something I pulled off Google, not specific to Zimmerman, but the paranoid half of the couch now is thinking, "Swell! heart attack?! Spinal injury?! neurological damage??" I'm sticking with "hung over" for now, just for my own piece of mind.

–NatsLady– "Ok, hypothetical. (Since you know I like to stir up trouble). Who are you trading if Morse doesn't come back? And who are you trading for assuming the standings in June are similar to what they are now?"I would think about placing a purely hypothetical call to the Padres about Carlos Quentin.

@NatsLady – I was operating under the assumption that your hypothetical involved a June/July time frame.I don't think that they want to trade him now, but they might later on in the season when it becomes apparent that it will take serious money to resign him through arbitration.

Marty, you understood correctly I was thinking if it becomes clear by late June/July that Morse is not returning full strength where do we go and what chips do we give up? Optimistically, Morse returns and no one is injured, we stay ahold of first place all season and meet the White Sox or Indians in the WS.